The BenQ VZ2470H is an affordable 24-inch monitor offering a sleek design, dark blacks, and low input latency, but its color and gray-scale performance could be better.

The BenQ VZ2470H ($209) is proof that you don't have to pay a premium for premium aesthetics. This striking 24-inch, full HD (1,920-by-1,080) monitor uses Advanced Multi-Domain Vertical Alignment (AMVA) panel technology to deliver dark blacks and vibrant colors, although those colors aren't as accurate as they could be. For another $160, the 25-inch Acer H257HU, our Editors' Choice for midsize, midpriced monitors, offers better all-around performance and a slightly bigger In-Plane Switching (IPS) panel with a WQHD (2,560-by-1,440) resolution. Still, if your budget is limited to around $200, the VZ2470H is worth a look.

Design and Features The VZ2470H is a beautiful monitor. It uses a bezel-free design, with a slim, 1.5-inch-thick, white cabinet and a matching stand that is offset to the left. The stand allows you to tilt the panel forward and backward, but you can't adjust its height or make swivel or pivot adjustments. There are five control buttons and a Power button located under the bottom bezel. Around back, facing outward, are a pair of HDMI inputs, a VGA input, and a headphone jack. You don't get a DisplayPort input with the VZ2470H, nor do you get USB connectivity.

The 24-inch AMVA panel has a non-reflective coating, a 1,920-by-1,080 resolution, and a peak brightness of 250 cd/m2. Its 3,000:1 native contrast ratio is higher than the 1,000:1 contrast ratio that you get from an IPS panel, such as the one used on the Philips Moda 2 (275C5Q), and it produces much darker blacks as well.

The VZ2470H offers a solid array of settings in a user-friendly menu system. Here, you can adjust Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness, Gamma, Color Temperature, and Black Level settings. You can also adjust Hue and Saturation levels and enable one of four Low Blue Light picture modes to help reduce eyestrain. There are eight additional picture modes, including Standard, Movie, Game, Photo, sRGB, ECO, M-Book, and User modes, and the usual analog settings, such as Clock, Phase, Position, and Auto Adjust.

The VZ2470H comes with HDMI and VGA cables, a Quick Start Guide, and a resource CD containing a User Guide and drivers. It is covered by a three-year warranty on parts, labor, and backlight.

Performance In my testing, the VZ2470H produced vibrant colors and inky blacks, but its out-of-the-box color accuracy was a bit skewed. As shown on the chromaticity chart below, red and green colors (represented by the colored dots) are slightly misaligned with their ideal CIE coordinates (represented by the boxes), while blue is spot-on. You likely won't notice any oversaturated colors or tinting as a result, however.

Gray-scale performance was mixed. The panel had no trouble displaying mid-to-light shades of gray on the DisplayMate 64-Step Gray-Scale test, but the two darkest shades of gray were crushed (appearing black). The VZ2470H still managed relatively good shadow detail in my test images and while displaying dark scenes in Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier on Blu-ray.

The VZ2470H isn't really designed for gaming, but its 4-millisecond (gray-to-gray) pixel response did a fairly good job of handling fast-action gaming on my Crysis 3 (PC) and Grand Theft Auto V (Sony PlayStation 4) gaming tests. I noticed an occasional ghosting artifact, but the flaws were minor. An input lag (the time it takes for the monitor to react to a controller command) of 11.4 milliseconds, as measured with the Leo Bodnar Lag Tester, means you can get the drop on your opponents without worrying about latency. Our fastest two monitors, the BenQ SW2700PT and the BenQ XL2430T both measured an input lag of 9.5 milliseconds.

The VX2470H is an energy miser. It consumed 24 watts of power during testing while set to Standard mode, and just 12 watts when set to ECO mode. That's a bit more efficient than the Viewsonic XG2401 (29 watts and 16 watts, respectively) and the AOC G2460PG (32 watts in Standard mode).

Conclusion The BenQ VZ2470H is an affordable monitor that looks much more expensive than it actually is. Its 24-inch AMVA panel offers inky blacks and robust colors, but it falls short when it comes to color and gray-scale accuracy. Having two HDMI ports is nice, but I'd gladly trade one in for a DisplayPort input or a couple of USB ports. It's not a gaming monitor, but its short input lag and motion handling are more than adequate for casual gameplay. That said, our Editors' Choice for midsize, mainstream monitors, the Acer H257HU, offers a higher-resolution IPS panel that delivers more accurate color and gray-scale performance for around $160 more, and you get a slightly larger panel, too.

Read More

About the Author

As a Contributing Editor for PCMag, John Delaney has been testing and reviewing monitors, TVs, PCs, networking and smart home gear, and other assorted hardware and peripherals for almost 20 years. A 13-year veteran of PC Magazine's Labs (most recently as Director of Operations), John was responsible for the recruitment, training and management of t... See Full Bio

BenQ VZ2470H

BenQ VZ2470H

Get Our Best Stories!

This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.